William de la Hay

The name Hay is documented as dating from the 8th century in France. La Haya de Puits was a senior leader with William the Conquerors army,

In 1066 one of William the Conqueror's top aides, William de-Haya Mathias landed in England where he fought at the Battle of Hastings alongside William the Conqueror. It is debated as to when exactly de-Haya Mathias was born, but historians who have researched rare family names have suggested in accordance to evidence that he was born between 1032 and 1037 in Normandy to a family of peasants. He is believed to have joined the army in the 1050s (mid or late). He quickly rose in ranks and became a well-trusted knight of the future William I of England.

With the Normans having successfully defeated the English army under Harold Godwinson, William de-Haya Mathias and his family settled in Northern England. Lack of historical evidence to support this has caused a small number of Northern English historians to debunk this idea, as it is most likely that the de-Haya Mathias' settled somewhere in or around London. However, what is known is that William de-Haya Mathias died in either 1088 or 1089 and that the de-Haya Mathias family purchased land in Norway and Sweden, granted to them by the gentry there with permission of the Royalty.

The de-Haya Mathias' became notorious landowners who are believed to have ordered soldiers to raid Scandinavian peasant homes to torture village and town inhabitants who were believed to be part of revolts that were popular in Europe in Norman and medieval times.

When Hannak Olson de-Haya Mathias' sister married a Scottish general in King James V of Scotland's Army in 1537, the family moved to Aberdeenshire where they were accepted for their Catholicism. It was sometime during this period that the family dropped the "de-Haya" in the name and turned the Mathias into the English equivalent "Mathew" (singular). During the reign of James VI (who later became King of England in 1603 following the death of Elizabeth I) the wealthy Mathew household who owned a small percentage of land in Aberdeenshire along the coast including several farms, were stripped of their gentryhood by James VI in 1597, being branded as rebels since Francis Mathew was believed to have been part of a Catholic uprising to overthrow the Protestant King.

and William de Haya was Pincerna (butler) to William the Lion. William de Hayas son was one of the hostages held in England with William the Lion and on his return, was granted an extensive manor in Erroll.

• **

In the reign of Malcolm Bean Mor, the son of the first De Ia Haye was one of the warriors who accompanied William of Normandy into England. Some time after the Conquest he made a journey into Scotland, to visit his uncle, the chief of the Clan na Garadh, then grown to a very advanced age and without children. During his visit the old chief died, and there being no other heir, De Ia Haye was declared his successor. From this time he abandoned the service of William, residing wholly in Scotland. The name became hereditary to the descendants of Garadh, and the old appellation dropped into oblivion.’

• **

until this MS. history of the Hays is produced, and the circumstances in which it was found are made known, the alleged Celtic origin of the family must be regarded as a romance, and we must continue to believe that the Hays are in reality a branch of the Norman family of de Haya. They derive their designation from an estate in Normandy, and their armorial bearings are the same as those borne by families of the name in Italy, France, and England. A Sieur de la Haya accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066. A William de la Haya, who married a daughter of Ranulph de Soulis, Lord of Liddesdale, was principal butler to Malcolm IV., about the middle of the twelfth century, and to his brother, William the Lion, who bestowed on him the lands of Errol. SIR GILBERT DE LA HAYA and his brother HUGH, descendants in the fifth generation from this royal butler, were amongst the first of the Scottish barons to repair to the standard of Robert Bruce, and were present at his coronation.

• **

Around the turn of the 10th century a Danish fleet landed an army on the east coast of Scotland near where Montrose now stands and the invaders went roaring and ravaging along under the Sidlaw hills on the way to Perth.

Kenneth III of Scotland, warned in Stirrling, came with opposition to check the advance and battle was joined by the river Tay near Luncarty House some four miles north of Perth.

A counrtyman named Hay watched the battleground from some distance in a field he was ploughing; and when the Scot ranks wavered and many began running from the fight over the speed hindering soil of the ploughed up field, Hay a man of breadth and strength took the yoke from his oxen's neck and calling his two equally powerful sons to his side, fronted the fugitives, halting their flight, arguing with them; and when that was unavailing, wielding the heavy timber yoke to such effect that those coming from behind paused at the sight of the three heroic figures athwart the narrow strip of land.

The tide of runaways stopped -- then, ever stronger flowing, turned again to the field of battle with the three Hays running with them. Like a new small army they came, or so it must have appeared to the Danes, for the sight of this influx of revitalised fighters was the signal for the weary invaders to, in their turn, begin a retreat, ending with their route inspired by the example set by ploughman Hay.

King Kenneth brought Hay and his two sons with much ceremony to his castle at Perth; and after the victory celebrations, the question of reward was discussed. A gift of land was settled on, to be dermined by a falcon's flight. The father asked for land "betwixt Tay and Arole" (Errol).

The falcon's journey is described: "The falcon flew to ane toun IV miles from Dundee called Rosse and alighted on ane stane which is called The Falcon Stane and so he got all the lands betwixt Tay and Arole six miles of length and four of breadth which lands are still inhabited by his posteritie".

Whether the wielded yoke that turned the tide for Scotland's warriors and the falcon that flew to shape the boundaries of the first estate of the clan chief are truth o legend, the fact is that supporters of the Arms of the Earls of Erroll are men shouldering oxen yokes and all is surmounted by a falcon.

From legendary history to recorded fact: The wide ranging Hays even before the year 1200 were established at Yester in East Lothian and the Marquess of Tweeddale who is patron of the Hay Society, owns the same land today. And in the Records of Scotland the Hays appear in the 12th century when King William the Lion granted William de Hay a charter of the lands of the barony of Erroll. Today, the village of Errol is at the heart of that land now calld the Carse of Gowrie.

William De La Haye FamilySearch släktträd Födelse: Ungefär jul 1100 - La Haye,Cotentin,Normandy,France Död: Mellan 8 jan 1170 och 7 jan 1171 - Scotland Föräldrar: Robert De La Hay Baron de l'Echiquier, Mrs Robert Hay (född De la Haye) Fru: Julianna De La Haye (född De Soules) Barn: Robert de Haya, William II De La Haye 1st Lord of Erroll, Butler of Scotland Syskon: Cecelia St John (född De La Hay), Richard de Haya, Cecily de Saint John (född de la Haye)

William De La Haye WikiTree Födelse: 1100 - La Haye,Cotentin,Normandy,France Död: 1170 - Scotland Maka: Juliana De Soules Barn: William De La Haye

William De La Haye (född Haye) WikiTree Födelse: 1100 - La Haye, Cotentin, Normandy Död: 1170 - Scotland Maka: Juliana Haye Barn: William De La Haye